Vikings Wiki:Policies
This page will cover the basic set of rules for a user's involvement in the community to ensure a peaceful and steady growth of the wiki. These basic rules apply to the whole wiki and are definite. Remember, all we want is a fun atmosphere and these'll help with that... hopefully. The Vikings Wiki is a collaborative wiki for the TV series Vikings. Since the series is based on actual history yet deviates from it, take note that the focus on this wiki is the events on the show, so history and the contradictions the show presents will not be pointed out and elaborated on. Overview Most edits are welcome, especially those which are helpful and contributory. Do take note that this wiki contains major spoilers, either from the show and are in no way censored. Please respect all views and all perspectives. This wiki is meant for a better understanding of the show, and for a strong, friendly community. Hateful or vulgar posts against someone or something can and will be removed by the admins. # Be civil to other users at all times. # No profanity is allowed on any page. # Any form of vandalism is prohibited. # Don't spam. "Spam" is an unwanted message, like advertisements, political statements and other off-topic messages. For this wiki, off-topic messages are messages that are not related to the show. Spam also includes duplicate messages that are posted three or more times. # When in doubt, take it to the article's comments section. # Avoid reverting good faith edits. This is to avoid conflicts with other users. # Decent edit summaries and clear and transparent explanations are universally appreciated. Other editors need to understand your process, and it also helps you remember what you did if you come back to the page at a later time. Please state what you changed and why in the Summary line to the left of the Save page button. If the explanation is too long, add more on the discussion page. # No personal attacks. Don't write that user such and so is an idiot, or insult him/her (even if (s)he is an idiot). Instead, explain what they did wrong, why it is wrong, and how to fix it. If possible, fix it yourself (but see above). # Be graceful: Be liberal in what you accept, be conservative in what you do. Try to accommodate other people's quirks the best you can, but try to be as polite, solid, and straightforward as possible yourself. # Do not use your signatures on mainspace articles. # Use the preview button. Before you click on Save page, click on the Preview button to see what your change(s) will look like. This will give you the chance to fix it before it's saved. This may also help you combine two or more edits into a single change, which is easier to check later. # Respect copyright. Wikia uses the CC-BY-SA license. Everything you contribute must be compatible with that license. #It's important to have fun... but try to make sure those around you have fun too! Page/Article Guidelines This guideline section will detail the requirements in an article and an edit to be considered appropriate. General *Articles or pages made must all be directly related to the series or the wiki. *Before creating new pages, make sure it does not already exist by searching for it or asking an admin if in doubt. *Content on character pages should only be summarized. Details should be added to the episode pages. *Other pages should only be linked on its first use and only once per section/heading in a page. If the article is considerably short, do not keep linking anymore. *Italicize the show title and its episodes. *When moving pages, if it is a major page you are moving, make sure a staff member has approved of it, particularly since sometimes, if you are redirecting to an already existing page, a delete is necessary. If you don't think an approval is necessary, at least make sure that the move is reasonable, like if it's misnamed, misspelled, or if there's a better name for it. Page Format *To see what the proper format for a character page should be, go here. *To see what the proper format for an episode page should be, go here. *Also check out the Manual of Style. Grammar and Spelling In order to communicate information effectively and to maintain a professional touch, proper use of grammar and spelling is vital. Edits with poor grammar and misspellings may be undone, so please take a moment to re-read what you have written and use spell check. Unnecessary content Fanfiction stories, non-canon topics, opinions, assumptions and theories, rumors, and other false information do not belong in articles. However, you are free to share these through blogs or your user pages. Cite your references Although citations can cause some frustration for the writer, the process is simple and necessary to differentiate between fact and fanfiction and can also help readers determine when exactly an event first occurred or was referenced in the series. In the case of real-world information, it is vital to distinguish fact from opinion, rumor, and vandalism. References may be a reference to which episode a certain fact was established, or a linked reference to an external source about facts that are not stated on the show. Editing Conflicts Since we allow anyone to edit, it follows that we assume that most people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it. Edit wars are common on wikis, so hopefully, this will help you understand every users' stands. There are always two sides to wars, and to both sides, the other one is bad, and the other is good. In the wiki, let us assume that the edit war is because of differing opinions among users. When a user does not agree with something another user has written, they tend to change it (even revert it), and the user who has made the edit may end up offended or protective of his/her edit. If this is the case, the users must try and settle the issue like adults on their own message walls, instead of continuing the edit-undo cycle with edit summaries that get harsher and harsher. This can avoid misunderstandings and prevent problems from escalating. If the issue still persists, then it is time for an administrator to interfere (or you could, you know.. approach us). If a consistent edit seems to be wrong and more harmful than helpful, and has no facts to base on, approach an admin for immediate action. Particularly, avoid reverting good faith edits. Only resort to reverting on very obvious vandalism or something that not only you would disagree on. When you can reasonably assume that something is a well-intentioned error, correct it without just reverting it or labeling it as vandalism. When you disagree with someone, consider using message walls to explain yourself, and give others the opportunity to do the same. If there is a problem, it's best to ask the user about the issue first, then take any additional steps if need be. Protection Administrators can protect and unprotect pages. Protection of a page or image can mean that a non-admin cannot edit or move it. Full protection is when only administrators (sysops) can move or edit a page. The majority of pages on all Wikia should remain publicly editable, and not protected. Pages may, however, be protected on certain grounds, particularly maintenance, and other reasons statied below. Uses *Protecting highly vandalised pages, such as the main page on busy wikis. *Protecting a page or image that has been a recent target of persistent vandalism or persistent edits by a banned user. *Enforcing a "cool down" period to stop an edit war, upon request. *Protecting documents such as minutes or policies that have gone through a formal approval process. *Protecting the often-used texts in the MediaWiki namespace (these are protected automatically). *Maintaining the integrity of the site's logo and favicon. *Maintaining the integrity of key copyright and license pages. *Maintaining the integrity of past press releases. *Avoiding mass changes made throughout the wiki when templates are edited, hence several major templates are protected. If anyone wants to suggest changes to templates, take it to its talk page or an admin's message wall. Less than full protection This is an example of what you might do temporarily if several different IP addresses are vandalizing a page. This allows long-time users to edit, but protects a page from Anonymous users and newly registered ones. The MediaWiki software now lets administrators pick several options short of full protection. These are good for temporary protection, particularly when resisting persistent vandalism or repeated spam. These are also used to reduce vandalism on high-profile pages (such as featured articles or highly used templates), while still allowing as many legitimate users as possible to edit. Categories Categorization has always been a somehow difficult thing to control in wikis. Some users might tend to add unnecessary categories, or put certain pages under categories they don't belong in. This page will serve as a guide to outline what pages should fall under categories. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask the admin. Note that capitalization is important! Wrong capitalization can create a whole new category. Also, categories should be listed in the order like the ones below. People Pages Characters *Characters *Main Characters *Male/Female Characters *Deceased Characters: In case the character is dead. *Season # Characters *Gods *Viking Warriors Actors/Cast and Crew *Cast and Crew Episode Pages *Episodes *Season # Episodes Locations *Locations Others *Animals *Groups Videos *All videos uploaded are automatically categorized into the Videos category. Galleries *Galleries **Character Galleries Images Being a wiki for the TV show, Vikings, the Vikings wiki is bound to have several images and videos on its database at one point. This is to ensure that users will know what normal procedure is to be followed here when uploading and sorting images. Uploading *ALL images and videos must be directly related to the show; this includes episode stills, promotional photos, behind the scene photos, and actor photos for images, and promos, sneak peeks, official clips, music videos, and cast interviews for videos. *Do not overwrite other existing images on the wiki unless it is the same one and a better version of it. *Avoid uploading duplicates. Please check the gallery you intend to put the image in, and see if the photo already is on the page. For videos, please check the videos category. Duplicate photos, and videos, added to a gallery will be deleted from the wiki. *Fanarts and fanmade videos for the show must only be uploaded with the consent of the creator and will only be uploaded for sharing purposes. No fanart can be included in articles. *The file extensions .PNG, .GIF, and .JPG are the standard requirements for Wikia. *Avoid uploading watermarked images, and also low quality images. Such images will be deleted immediately. *Inappropriate images are disallowed. Naming Videos *Promos and sneak peeks for episodes are to be placed in its given section on the episode's page. *Cast interviews and other recorded events will be placed in the page of the season being discussed. *Fan videos should only be posted on blog posts and categorized into Category:Fan videos. Community Interaction Around the Wiki Discussion on the Vikings Wiki is greatly encouraged, but it is advisable that you are aware of where you should be initiating certain topics. Comments Comments are basically that.. comments and thoughts you want to share about the topic of that particular page. Blogs Blogs are used to start a discussion, or maybe to write out something you've been wanting to let out about the show, and you may want others to weigh in or hear you out. Although quite similar to the forum (see below), blogs are different in that it may be a personal post, and not necessarily for discussions. You may even share a story (related to the show or your experiences with it, at least) or fanfiction. Forums Forums are used to initiate discussions about certain topics. You can start this if you want to have others to respond and give their opinions, as well. This can be anything, from opinions, to theories, to reactions, etc. Message Walls Use message walls if you want to contact a particular individual user, or a certain number, somehow privately. If you have questions, or maybe an issue you would like to settle. Chat At this point, it is doubtful that the Chat feature will be used, given the wiki's silent state. The only wikis I have seen with users actually using the Chat feature are those wikis which are very active and has several invested users. Nonetheless, the Chat would be a good place to hang out with and meet other users and get immediate responses. A great chance to use the Chat is when users have agreed to watch episodes together and discuss live. It'll be like hanging out with friends in the living room to watch Vikings when it's on. ;) User Behavior Vandalism and Spamming *'Vandalism will not be tolerated. '''Vandalism is any type of edit that is destructive to the article that may be in the form of is deleting a large portion of the page without proper reason, or, worse, replacing it with inappropriate information or randomness. If someone becomes a vandal, the admins have the right to block the person for an indefinite amount of time, depending on the severity of the act. *'Comments on pages are expected to be appropriate. This means that there should be no inappropriate language, the comment should not be irrelevant, and should not be inflammatory. *'''In the case of an edit war, the two opposing people are expected to solve their problem for themselves. If they cannot do that, an admin will step in. *Major format changes must be run by the administrators and the rest of the community first, to get a consensus. *Insulting/slandering other users is not permitted. It is the right of any user to remove, or request the removal of, any comment, blog, forum, or message wall post that is insulting or slanderous to them personally. Harassing users in this way will result in lengthy blocks. Blocking Blocking is the method by which administrators may technically prevent users from editing. Blocks are used to prevent damage or disruption, not to punish users. Blocks sometimes are used as a deterrent, to discourage whatever behavior led to the block and encourage a productive editing environment. Request block Any user may request a block at the Administrator noticeboard for major incidents of vandalism or disruption. Users requesting blocks should supply credible evidence of the circumstances warranting a block. Administrators are never obliged to place a block and are free to investigate the situation themselves. Because blocks may be reviewed and appealed, it is often important that the blocking and reviewing administrators each communicate with and take care to inform the other. Reasons for blocking *Persistent personal attacks *Persistent vandalism *Persistent incivility *Persistent harassment *Persistent spamming *Edit warring or revert warring *Sockpuppetry *Failure to observe policies or guidelines *Accounts with inappropriate usernames *Editing for the sole purpose of obtaining badges *Use of explicit profanities *Posting of vulgar, nude, or other inappropriate images *Spamming links and advertisements not directly related to the wiki *Under 13 years old *Using sockpuppets to circumvent a ban or block Duration of blocks Each administrator blocks at their own discretion. However, the following should be kept in mind: *In general, the first block should be of a reasonably short duration, with the length increasing progressively every time a further block is required. *Anonymous users should never be blocked indefinitely. If you see any anonymous user blocked indefinitely, report it on the administrator noticeboard. *Sockpuppets that have been used maliciously should, and will, always be blocked indefinitely. The original account's ban/block will also be extended further if not already.